About 75 percent of all new COVID-19 cases reported in the U.S. last week were in Michigan, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, reports The Wall Street Journal.
A breakdown of seven-day positivity rates and new cases most recently reported in the five surge states as of April 21:
- New Jersey's seven-day positivity rate nearly doubled in the past 24 hours, from 7.4 percent reported April 20 to 14.2 percent reported April 21. The state reported 2,839 COVID-19 cases
- As of April 21, Michigan is reporting the third highest test positivity rate in the nation, with a 16.4 percent seven-day average paired. [The number of new COVID-19 cases for the state was not available at time of publication.]
- Pennsylvania, with a seven-day positivity rate of 10.1 percent, reported 5,369 new COVID-19 cases.
- New York has a 2.8 seven-day test positivity rate and reported 4,576 new cases.
- Florida, with a seven-day test positivity rate of 10.2 percent, reported 5,645 new cases.
Citing data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University and the CDC, the Journal notes that most of the regional surges are in the same areas that emerged as hot spots a year ago. New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York all reported high case counts last April during the nation's first peak.
However, when the U.S. reached another peak in late July, those four states didn't report surges, with states in the South and West instead driving caseloads. Infections in the four states rose again in winter, along with the rest of the country.
Experts say many factors are contributing to the increasing caseloads, including variant spread; a rise in infections among younger, often unvaccinated, individuals; relaxed prevention efforts and safety restrictions; and pandemic fatigue. Large outbreaks have also been linked to Easter celebrations and spring breaks.
Nationwide, newly reported cases declined from 52,373 cases reported April 17 to 42,018 April 18, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. However, daily cases reported tend to be lower at the beginning of the week, when fewer people are tested and some states aren't reporting data on weekends.